Buddha Bar is a new addition to the Grosvenor House Hotel, the same restaurant and bar that has made it way from its origin in Paris to various overseas locations.

The red carpet leading down towards the large separate entrance and the large doormen manage to evoke a little tingle of self importance. As you enter you will be greeted by numerous bowing waitresses who will show you to the bar or straight to your table. The restaurant is huge, spread across two floors the main dining area being overlooked by a 15ft tall Buddha. The ceiling is up way above and has numerous classical red chandeliers dangling down from above. The large floor to ceiling windows allow for views of the marina.

The restaurant is dark (we were given a pocket light at the bar to read the menu) and is lit by little red candles. There are lots of secluded little coves as well as a sushi bar with Japanese low seating all around. There is a good mixture of food, taking the best of many different Asian cuisines, for instance for start you can have duck and pancakes, a variety of sushi or share a plate of vegetable tempura, which is what we opted for and it was fantastically fresh. For main course I had the Vegetable Mussuman curry with steamed rice, the portions were of a perfect size, my friend´s beef strips on a bed of mash was absolutely delicious.

The kind waitress advised us on a good bottle of red wine and when chatting discovered that two weeks ago we had missed out on a birthday celebration at the restaurant because it was fully booked, so she brought over a birthday dessert with "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate on the plate. No need for it and completely unexpected but it adds to the feeling that you are being looked after properly.

Buddha Bar is hugely popular throughout Dubai for visitors and residents alike, a place to see and be seen for sure.

Opening Times:
8pm-2am